Published: July 07, 2008 11:58 am         

City moving on TIF district for Baker Hotel

Latest action on historic hotel an attempt to have TIF in place well ahead of December deadline

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

There isn't a firm proposal in the works to renovate the Baker Hotel, but Mineral Wells City Council members opted to start the process of creating a tax increment financing district that would assist in the historic hotel's redevelopment.

“We would like to begin the process to get the district established well before the deadline,” Mineral Wells City Manager Lance Howerton told council members Tuesday evening.

The creation of a TIF district would provide an incentive for the development of the Baker Hotel, Howerton said.

With a TIF, the taxes are frozen for entities at what they are at the time it is formed. The TIF wouldn't negatively impact Mineral Wells ISD, because of legislation passed in September 2007. It would allow the school district to participate without suffering a loss of state revenue under school finance formulas, as the project would be excluded from the comptroller's property tax valuation.

In November of last year, the Mineral Wells Industrial Foundation was able to negotiate a purchase contract with the historic hotel's owner, Greg Horne, of Phoenix, Ariz., that set the building's price tag at $2.2 million.

Industrial Foundation's Steve Butcher told the city council they “do not have a firm developer contract at this time.” He advised starting the process of developing a TIF district now as it will take approximately two months to complete the process with the current estimated timeline.

“It doesn't have to be done until December but we don't want to run into problems at the last minute,” he told the council. The legislation that allows the school district to participate in the TIF without penalty expires Dec. 31.

“We're really making some serious progress,” Butcher said. Although the foundation is initially concerned with the Baker Hotel project, he predicted that if the hotel project works out, the downtown area will also see growth.

The council unanimously approved a resolution and notice of intent for creating the TIF district; a public hearing is scheduled for July 23 to receive public comment.

Also in the meeting city staff was authorized by council members to look into an exception request regarding recreational vehicles as permanent residences in mobile home parks.

Kevin Cross addressed the council members concerning a mobile home park located

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at the intersection of U.S. Highway 281 South and Municipal Highway 379 that currently consists of approximately 40 spaces, 75 percent of which are not being used.

He asked council to grant an exception to putting RVs at the mobile home park where oilfield workers who live out of travel trailers

can stay.

“Our goal is to clean the trailer park up,” Cross explained, while trying to keep up a cash flow for the property.

Council members briefly discussed issues associated with granting an exception to the city ordinance that prohibits an RV from remaining in an RV park longer than 14 days in a 30-day period. Concerned with potential long-term ramifications, the council asked the city staff to examine the issue in greater detail.

In other business Tuesday evening, the city council:

• Awarded a bid for the demolition of seven structures to J.M. Construction for $23,697.25.

• Took no action following a 48-minute executive session conducted to discuss the purchase and value of real estate on S.E. 2nd Avenue regarding the flood alleviation project.